Natalie Lambert
Dr. Natalie Lambert is a forensic pathologist working for the Coroner's Office in Toronto. Her office is located in the Coroners Building on Grenville Street. While at work, Dr. Lambert is usually dressed formally in a skirt-suit, over which she wears a lab coat when in her office. When her presence is required at crime scenes for the initial evaluation of a victim's condition, she typically removes this lab coat. During her work in the office, Natalie frequently appears progressively more disheveled as the night shift wears on. Off duty, she tends to dress casually, and has been seen in a sweat suit. She has dated at least one man during the course of the series, though he proved to be a serial killer;Only the Lonely but, as she points out, it is difficult for someone on the night shift to meet people romantically. Indeed, she admits that at one point she even debated using a dating agency, though she decided against it. Living Arrangements Natalie has had two apartments in the course of the series, a smaller one with red-painted walls and modern furniture (in Season One), and a larger one in a more traditional style (in Season Two). She also has a cat, a short-haired grey tabby, whom she has named Sydney, after the actor Sydney Greenstreet. Relationships Although the most significant relationship that Natalie Lambert has in ''Forever Knight is with the show's protagonist, Nick Knight, there are several other people who play important roles in her life in one or more episodes. Nick Knight At the time the series begins, Natalie has known Nick Knight for about a year, having met him on her birthday, when he was brought into the morgue, apparently dead ("Only the Lonely"). He healed on the autopsy table, to her astonishment; and, when he tried to hypnotize her into forgetting, she proved to retain the memory. He therefore agreed to let her investigate his condition in the hope that she would be able to find a way to reverse it. From the first time they met, Natalie has been attracted to Nick; but she feigned a purely professional interest in him in order to gain his permission to study him. By the time the show opens in "Dark Knight", Natalie and Nick's relationship has progressed beyond that of doctor and patient: they have become close friends. Although he is rarely seen visiting her at her own apartment, she frequently goes over to his—not just to check up on his treatment, but also to talk or watch movies. Through the course of the series, their interest in one another shifts towards the romantic, though neither finds it easy to admit this, even to themselves, let alone to the other. For Natalie, such a shift would—apart from any other considerations—be unprofessional, since Nick is her patient. She is also inhibited by uncertainty about Nick's feelings towards her. ".]] It is not until "Be My Valentine" that Nick and Natalie admit that they love each other. In the end, frustratingly little comes of the declaration, since her memory of the evening is obliterated by hypnosis. However, when Janette returns to Toronto in "The Human Factor", Natalie is fascinated by her description of how she and Robert McDonagh had been able to make love safely even though she was vampire and he mortal. Therefore, in "Last Knight", Natalie decides to try this with Nick. Sadly, he is unable to summon the self-control that Janette had exhibited. He drains Natalie, and leaves her dying on the floor of his loft. Her death seems imminent but is never fully resolved by the end of the series. Family Natalie had one sibling, a brother Richard, who was a lawyer working for the Crown. He was accidentally shot in the Season One episode "I Will Repay". As he lay dying in hospital, Natalie begged Nick to save him by bringing him over. Reluctantly, he finally did so. The consequences were disastrous, and ended in Richard's death. Natalie has not mentioned her brother since. He is survived by his widow and daughter, Natalie's sister-in-law and niece. We do not know about Natalie's parents; but we do know that she disliked one of her grandmothers, who called her "Natascha" and who hit her when she was a child ("Dead of Night"). Professional Relationships Dr. Lambert supervises a number of junior staff members at the coroner's office, about whose careers she feels some concern, especially when budget issues require staff cutbacks. However, although various lab staff have been seen visiting her office occasionally, and quite a group of them came to celebrate her birthday,Only the Lonely the person closest to her is her principal assistant, Grace Balthazar. They are clearly on friendly terms: Grace feels free to joke with her; they sometimes share dinner; and it is clearly Grace who organized her birthday celebration, and presented her with her gift. Natalie's Quest to Cure Nick : Since first meeting Nick, Dr. Lambert has undertaken an extensive—albeit secret—research program into the nature of the vampire condition and possible methods of reversing it. To this end, she has put Nick on a regimen of garlic and sunbed treatments. It is her firm belief that his diet of blood prevents him from coming back across, and she therefore exhorts him to eat solid food. As an interim measure, she also tries to find some acceptable substitute liquid diet, though so far has failed to find one that he finds remotely palatable. Her research is noted in a record book that she keeps locked in her desk. At the moment, her most intriguing discovery is that Nick's cells contain non-human RNA ("The Fix"); but, when she finds a drug that could affect it, the RNA begins to adapt, and the side-effects prove too dangerous to continue. Episodes of Significance The following is a list of those episodes in which Dr. Lambert plays a role beyond the norm, deepening our understanding of her character. For a full discussion of her role in each episode of the series, see Natalie's scenes. Season One * "I Will Repay": When Natalie's brother is dying, she tries to persuade Nick to bring him across. * "Only the Lonely": The flashback describes how Nick and Natalie first met, while the present day story confirms that they are attracted to each other, though neither knows the other's feelings. Season Two * "Undue Process": When Natalie's goddaughter is murdered, she faces an ethical decision about the fate of the murderer. * "The Fire Inside" Natalie has to overcome her phobia about autopsying burn victims. * "The Fix": Natalie thinks she has found a cure for Nick. * "Be My Valentine": Nick and Natalie admit their love for one another. * "A More Permanent Hell": When she believes the planet Earth is about to be hit by an asteroid and become uninhabitable for humans, Natalie decides to survive as a vampire. Season Three * "Night in Question": When Nick has amnesia, Natalie decides not to tell him he is a vampire. * "Dead of Night": Natalie sees the ghost of her grandmother, whom she had disliked so much that she never visited her in the hospital when she was dying. * "Fallen Idol": Over Nick's protests, Natalie decides to treat a brain-damaged boy with an injection of Nick's blood in the hope that this will impart vampire healing ability and restore the boy's health. * "Last Knight": Depressed by a friend's suicide, Natalie decides to try to cure Nick through making love, despite the risks; and, as a result, he loses control and drains her. Fan Fiction The following are works of fan fiction focusing prominently on Dr. Natalie Lambert. * FK4: Dr. Lambert is a regular character in the fourth season, appearing in all episodes. * "Time Out for the Living" by Amy R. References Lambert, Natalie Lambert, Natalie Lambert, Natalie Lambert, Natalie